Riyadh – Mubasher: Sahara Petrochemical Co. on Sunday said that one of its subsidiaries had suffered a technical issue on Friday, 19 October.

Sahara’s unit Al Waha Petrochemicals Company incurred a technical issue in the propane de-hydrogenation unit, which led to an interruption in the production of Polypropylene, the company revealed.

“The management of the company evaluated the issue and decided to carry out repairs before re-operation. The repairing process is expected to end in a period not exceeding 10 Days starting [Sunday], Sahara said in a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

It highlighted that, based on current polypropylene prices, the repairs would cost the company around SAR 14 million ($3.73 million), which in turn would negatively impact profit forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2018.

During Al Waha Petrochemicals Company’s shutdown period, the firm will supply clients from standby reserves available in its warehouse.

“There will be an update in case of any developments in this regard,” Sahara concluded.

In September, Sahara had said that maintenance operations at Al Waha Petrochemical's plants had been completed and that financial impact of resuming operations would appear in the parent firm’s financial results for the third quarter of 2018.

Al Waha Petrochemical is 75%-owned by Saudi-listed Sahara.

Sahara last reported a 150% profit surge to SAR 221.2 million ($58.97 million) in the second quarter of 2018 from SAR 88.6 million ($23.62 million) in the year-ago period. Profits for the first six months of 2018 were also higher than the same period of 2017.